Fortunately, Mr. Berlucchi said, “the snow totals weren’t up high. The snow was light because it was so cold, but there was some drifting.”

The breakdown of the 29-year-old 1984 Ford truck came early Thursday morning at 4 a.m., about an hour after the truck had gone out at 3 a.m. onto Crandall Road as part of the effort to prepare the roads for the winter storm everyone was predicting.

The truck had to be towed back to DPW, where an effort is being made by mechanics to bring it back to life with old parts, Mr. Berlucchi said.

“It’s time for the grave yard” for the old diesel, Mr. Berlucchi said, however.

The town’s new $193,500 snow plow and sand spreader— a Granite Series Mack GU 712 6-wheel dump truck rigged with a plow in front — won’t be getting into town until March, “just in time for summer,” Mr. Berlucchi said.

The purchase of the new plow was unanimously approved by the town council last fall. It’s the town’s first new plow in 29 years.

The delay is caused by the need to add various components to the vehicle to ready it for use, Mr. Berlucchi said.

The plow that broke down in the pre-dawn hours this last Thursday morning, he said, “is a six-wheel sander with a plow, the same one that broke down last year on Cynthia Avenue. We lost it a lot last year.”